Information technology and telecommunications equipment (“IT and telecom equipment”) is typically stored on equipment racks (“racks”). These racks offer flexibility of positioning, allow appropriate spacing, and allow for a clean installation for access to add, remove, repair, or replace equipment. Traditional rack mount kits generally require more than one person to safely and reliably install telecommunications equipment into a rack. The device chassis that compose this IT and telecom equipment are often heavy and of a large size, making it difficult for a single person to safely hold the device chassis steady while attaching the equipment to the rack.
While one might be tempted to look at racks that are designed and used for other purposes, such as utility racks, for solutions, these other racks are not faced with the same design constraints that encumber racks for IT and telecom equipment. Specifically, racks for IT and telecom equipment are located in a special room that is modified to provide appropriate electrical power and HVAC control (temperature, humidity, and/or particulate). Thus, as a business expands, this room can become very space constrained, as there is often a need to fit as many device chassis in one rack as possible. In addition, some open space must exist as telecommunications devices generate heat that must be able to be dissipated, or at a minimum, must not be directly conducted to neighboring devices. Therefore, shelving and direct staking approaches are not practical.
Traditional racks are also prone to being laterally flexible when telecommunications equipment chassis are not yet installed. Such flexibility makes installing IT and telecom equipment chassis into a rack difficult to accomplish, especially by only one person. Installed equipment actually increases the rigidity of the rack because the installed equipment acts as a lateral support between the vertical members.